Photo: Meirion · CC BY-SA 2.0How Cheshire stacks up
On flood risk, Cheshire is a county of two halves: 40% of town residents live in top-quarter towns such as Disley and Alderley Edge, and 30% in bottom-quarter ones such as Warrington and Chester. None of its neighbours matches it on schools, health and jobs and income. On balance it grades B, which places it 24th.
Each subject puts the official figure for the whole county beside a measure built from our town grades. How this works
Safety
38th of 65C+42/100 A bit above-average crime. Violent crime runs at 35.4 offences per 1,000 residents a year, the 29th highest rate of 65 areas with police.uk figures. Pickmere is among the ten best towns in the UK for safety (#7).
All recorded crime (anti-social behaviour left out): 69 per 1,000 residents a year, 27th lowest.
Source: police.uk street-level crime, September 2025 to August 2026 (each crime placed by its LSOA); Census 2021 residents. Greater Manchester Police publishes none.
Measure: recorded crime against residents (violence, burglary, vehicle crime, criminal damage), as in our Safety grades. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,138 graded towns. 46 Cheshire towns.
Hardly any high-crime towns
Tarvin leads its towns at #16 of 2,138, with Kelsall and Disley close behind. Of residents of its towns, 26% live in the safest quarter and almost none in the quarter with the most recorded crime.
| County | Safest quarter | Most-crime quarter | Split |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ards and North Down | 100% | 0% | |
| Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 100% | 0% | |
| Lisburn and Castlereagh | 100% | 0% | |
| Mid Ulster | 100% | 0% | |
| Antrim and Newtownabbey | 78% | 0% | |
| Cheshire | 26% | 0% |
What the two figures count
police.uk places every crime at a street or public place near where it happened, never an address, and we count it where that point falls. The county figure counts violent and sexual offences everywhere in Cheshire, including town centres, stations and shopping streets. Town grades count the crimes that touch residents where they live (violence, burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage), so a town with a busy centre is not marked down for its shoplifting.
Schools
18th of 90A−81/100 Strong results in the classroom. Cheshire’s eleven-year-olds rank 6th highest in the national tests: 65% reach the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. It leads its neighbours on schools, ahead of Greater Manchester. Its towns mostly sit mid-table; Kelsall ranks highest, at #43.
GCSE: an average Attainment 8 score of 46.3, 19th highest. The grade weighs primary and GCSE results equally.
Source: DfE key stage 2 results 2024/25 and key stage 4 (Attainment 8), every state school in the county, pupil-weighted. England only.
Measure: our Schools grade: primary and secondary results of the schools in and around each town. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,331 graded towns. 46 Cheshire towns.
Cost of living
66th of 98C33/100 A bit expensive for what people earn. Land Registry sales put the typical home at £270,000, or 5.3 years of average household income, against 5.2 across England and Wales. Over five years, typical prices have risen 10%. Its towns mostly sit mid-table; Burtonwood ranks highest, at #406.
Typical sale price: £270,000 (13,208 sales, 35th highest).
Private rent £943 a month (38th highest); Band D council tax £2,463 (25th highest). Shown for context.
Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid, standard sales September 2025 to August 2026; ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023); ONS Price Index of Private Rents (August 2026); council Band D 2026/27.
Measure: our Cost of living grade: prices and rents against local income, plus council tax. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 46 Cheshire towns.
Health
25th of 98A−75/100 Good health overall. People here can expect 66.6 years in good health, against 65.2 across England and Wales (19th longest of 55 areas with figures). No neighbour beats it on health; Shropshire comes closest. Kelsall leads its towns at #41 of 2,515; 29% of town residents live in top-quarter towns.
Life expectancy at birth: 81.2 years, 27th longest.
Source: ONS life expectancy and healthy life expectancy by small area (MSOA), 2019 to 2023, men and women averaged.
Measure: our Health grade: ONS life and healthy life expectancy, Census health, and OHID indicators in England. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 46 Cheshire towns.
Jobs & income
31st of 98B+69/100 Incomes a notch above average. No neighbour beats it on incomes; Derbyshire comes closest. Households take in £51,100 a year on average before tax, against £55,600 across England and Wales (36th highest of 98 areas). 20% of town residents live in a top-quarter town, 10% in a bottom-quarter one; Prestbury ranks highest.
Claimant rate: 2.7% of 16 to 64-year-olds claim out-of-work benefits (August 2026), 28th lowest. Counted half in the grade.
Source: ONS small-area income estimates (financial year ending 2023), household-weighted; DWP claimant count (August 2026) by council.
Measure: our Jobs & income grade: household income. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,156 graded towns. 46 Cheshire towns.
Getting about
73rd of 98C26/100 Hard going without a car. Cheshire ranks 31st lowest for getting to work without a car: 17% of commuters walk, cycle or ride. One town stands apart: Chester, #177 in the UK, while nearly every other town sits lower.
Worked mainly from home at the 2021 Census: 32% of workers (context; they are left out of the commuting share).
Source: ONS Census 2021, method of travel to work (TS061) by council; people working mainly from home left out.
Measure: our Walkability grade: how many everyday places are within reach on foot. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,515 graded towns. 46 Cheshire towns.
Flood risk
20th of 87A−78/100 Low flood risk, but not everywhere. About one in 100 homes in its towns face a real risk of flooding from rivers or the sea (20th lowest). Its towns run the full range: Disley and Alderley Edge rank near the top in the UK, Warrington and Chester near the bottom.
Source: Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales flood-risk maps (rivers and the sea), homes in every town of the county.
Measure: our Hazard risk grade: the share of homes at high or medium flood risk. The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 2,452 graded towns. 46 Cheshire towns.
Growth
34th of 98B+66/100 Steady growth. Town by town it lands near the middle, with Elworth its best at #60 of 1,579. The population grew 10.8% between 2011 and 2024, to 1.14 million, against 10.0% across England and Wales (23rd fastest).
From 2021 to 2024 alone, +3.8% (22nd fastest).
Source: ONS mid-year population estimates, 2011 and 2024.
Measure: population change from 2011 to 2024 (ONS estimates for built-up areas). The top quarter is the best-placed towns holding a quarter of the people in the UK’s 1,579 graded towns. 34 Cheshire towns.
How Cheshire compares to its neighbours
Against Merseyside, Greater Manchester, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Derbyshire, Cheshire leads on schools, health and jobs and income.
| Cheshire | Merseyside | Greater Manchester | Staffordshire | Shropshire | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall | B 6424th of 65 | D 959th of 65 | No overall grade | C 2847th of 65 | C+ 4238th of 65 |
| Safety | C+ 4237th official · 26% in top towns | D 1159th official · 17% in top towns | Not graded | C− 1653rd official · 22% in top towns | B 5628th official · 26% in top towns |
| Schools | A− 816th official · 30% in top towns | D 1242nd official · 2% in top towns | B+ 6715th official · 14% in top towns | C+ 4212th official · 7% in top towns | C− 2425th official · 4% in top towns |
| Cost of living | C 3368th official · 28% in top towns | C 2553rd official · 0% in top towns | C− 2373rd official · 6% in top towns | B− 4652nd official · 45% in top towns | C+ 4463rd official · 59% in top towns |
| Health | A− 7519th official · 29% in top towns | D 1453rd official · 9% in top towns | C− 2447th official · 10% in top towns | C+ 4236th official · 14% in top towns | B 5825th official · 18% in top towns |
| Jobs & income | B+ 6936th official · 20% in top towns | D 1481st official · 8% in top towns | C+ 3864th official · 12% in top towns | C 3050th official · 5% in top towns | C 3441st official · 3% in top towns |
| Getting about | C 2668th official · 0% in top towns | A 9013th official · 36% in top towns | A− 8218th official · 21% in top towns | C− 1580th official · 0% in top towns | C− 1878th official · 0% in top towns |
| Flood risk | A− 7820th official · 40% in top towns | A 883rd official · 43% in top towns | A− 7617th official · 31% in top towns | A 934th official · 55% in top towns | B+ 7212th official · 22% in top towns |
| Growth | B+ 6623rd official · 15% in top towns | C+ 3547th official · 2% in top towns | A− 8415th official · 33% in top towns | B 5645th official · 12% in top towns | A 8719th official · 54% in top towns |
Each cell: the subject’s grade and score, the county’s rank on the official figure (1st = the better end), and the share of its town residents living in a top-quarter town for the UK. Neighbour names open their report cards.
How this report card works
Two measures, side by side. The left card is an official figure for the whole county, its towns, villages and countryside together, built from the small areas and councils that make it up and ranked against the other counties. The right card is built from our town grades: of everyone living in the county’s graded towns of 2,500 or more, the share whose town is in the top quarter for the UK. Quarters are of people, not towns: the top quarter is the best-placed towns that together hold a quarter of everyone living in graded towns, so a county of big cities is not marked down just for being urban. A county can do well on one measure and not the other; that difference is often the story.
Scores and grades. Each subject’s score (0–100) is the area’s standing in one UK league of 98: the ceremonial counties of England (London counts as one), Wales’s eight preserved counties, and Scotland’s 32 and Northern Ireland’s 11 council areas, each called by its own name. The two measures’ percentiles are averaged, then ranked again, the same method as our town grades. Where a nation publishes its own kind of figure, the official figure is ranked within that nation: school results everywhere, health in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and flood risk in Scotland. Each area’s figures are set beside its own nation’s. 100 is the best county, 0 the last. Letters use the town-grade scale (A+ from 95, A from 85, A− from 75 … D below 15). The overall score weighs safety 18, cost of living 18, schools 16, health 14, jobs & income 12, getting about 8, growth 8, flood risk 6 (out of 100), over the subjects a county has. Counties with fewer than 5 graded towns (Rutland, Bristol) are graded on the official figures alone.
What it is not. A county figure averages everyone, so it cannot show whether a county is evenly good or a mix of very good and struggling places. The town measure shows the mix but leaves out villages and towns under 2,500. Neither says anything about any one street.
Gaps. Wales publishes no school results that compare with England’s, so Welsh counties have no Schools grade. Greater Manchester Police publishes no street-level crime, so Greater Manchester has no Safety grade and, as for its towns, no overall grade. Nor does Police Scotland, so Scotland’s council areas have no Safety grade or overall grade yet. Scotland and Northern Ireland have no small-area income figures, so their household income is estimated from ONS household income per head. Flood risk has no county-wide official figure; it is the share of homes in the county’s towns at high or medium risk. Sources are named under each figure. How grades work
Sources: TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.